Rockton Grade School teacher gets surprise of a lifetime with Golden Apple Award

Posted:
Friday, April 25, 2014 12:32 PM EDT

ROCKTON (WREX) -
Mrs. Erin Salberg has struck gold, a surprise to her and her entire first grade class.

"It was getting to be the end of the morning and the way things were working out, I just thought, you know, it was a great try," Salberg says. "It was a great learning experience and maybe my time came and went and it's great. But when they walked in at 11:15, I was just so surprised!"

In her seventh year at Rockton Grade School, Mrs. Salberg was nominated for the Golden Apple Award by a parent, went through the observation process and came out with the win.

"It's great for my students because they work so hard everyday," Salberg says. "It's just fulfilling to know that people see the hard work and dedication it takes to be a teacher."

When you step in her classroom, you immediately feel her passion for teaching. She's using special techniques to get her first graders on the fast track to success.

"I've done a lot of research on whole brain teaching, which gets their whole brain moving, and gets them chanting and using gestures and saying a lot of fun silly things, which lets me show my excitement and passion for teaching, and when they see me excited and being passionate about something, they in return model after that and feel like they can be excited too," Salberg says.

It's a dream career for Salberg and with the Golden Apple to top off year seven, she hopes to influence other educators for years to come.

"With this opportunity, I am now going to be able to do that, and help mentor other teachers and teach them things that I'm passionate about and I'm always looking for new ways to inspire my students and get them engaged and excited and so I think I can bring that to this group of people and teach them," says Salberg.

Mrs. Erin Salberg will join her fellow Golden Apple recipients at the Golden Apple Award banquet on May 2nd.